TELECOMMUNICATIONS

MOBILE TELEPHONY
In late 2011, the number of mobile phone subscribers reached approximately 5.2 million, which represents a penetration rate (number of users per 100 inhabitants) of 185%, a figure which is much higher than the level of 140% in 2010, or the average in the European Union countries by 124% in 2010.

The first mobile operator in Albania, was launched in May 1996 by the Albanian Mobile Communication (AMC), which privatized 85%of total shares worth 85,600,000 euros through COSMOTE Telenor Consortium. The remainder 12.6% of state shares was privatized in March 2009 for a value of 48,200,000 euros. AMC has the highest number of employees in the telecommunications sector with over 500 specialized employees.

Licensed in 2001, Vodafone Albania was the second mobile operator in Albania. Vodafone’s GSM network covers 90.86% of the territory of Albania and the 99.6% Albanians in rural and urban areas.

Eagle Mobile, the third mobile operator in Albania, entered the market in October 2008. The company had an increase of 35% in the number of users from the year 2010 to year 2011.

In the year 2009, the fourth  licensed mobile operator Plus Communication  entered the Albanian market. This was a “joint venture” between several Albanian local companies and Kosovo Post Telecommunication. The company had an increase of 370 thousand users comparing to 2010.

INTERNET SERVICE
According to data pertaining to the first half of 2010, 96 Internet providers are currently operating in Albania. Most of them are located in Tirana and other cities in western Albania. Internet is mainly offered  through ADSL and the Hybrid Fiber-Coax. According to Electronic and Postal Communications Authority – (AKEP) data, with the increase of the broadband Internet users for the year 2011, their number reached 161,000. For the same period, the number of broadband lines per 100 inhabitants rose to around 6.2%, compared to 3.7% that was at the end of 2010.

The leading internet service providers include:
Albtelecom: www.albtelecom.al
Abcom: www.abcom.al
Abissnet: www.abissnet.com.al
Primo: www.primo.al